Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Lorena is a Venezuelan blogger living in India. Her blog - Historias de la India - has information in Spanish about India. In researching some of the answers to questions which people posed for her, she came across my blog and then wanted to know more about Indians living in the Caribbean. She sent some questions which I am answering here. I thought Lorena would want to know that there have been Indians in Venezuela since the middle of the nineteenth century. Nalini sent this quotation "Walton Look Lai's Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar  P117-"In Trinidad, Indian immigrants had gone over to next-door Venezuela in such numbers that the official reports were unable to estimate exact mortality among the Indians in Trinidad up to 1855"" My friend Pandit Rajin has visited several mandirs and satsanghs in Puerto Ordaz/San Felix where Hindu people have settled. Here are the answers : How old are you and what do you do for a living? (If you dont mind to tel...

Tylenol Phagwah this year started off with me waking up shivering with fever.. I took two tylenol and put tumeric in my coffee.  When I was little the day used to start with the goolgoola made by my Naanee. As I battled with fever, I questioned the fates.. my karmic engagement..I I do not like Phagwah day because I have not let go of the bad feelings associated with the day. Life said.. right, ketch your bed.. you did not want to go sing chowtaal today.. then at least you have a truthful answer to say you were sick rather than some complex answer which nobody would understand. Fever in the blasted brain though had me dreaming and thinking of the random thoughts and this blog is a result Alcohol Alcohol (and meat for some people) is part of celebrations.. alcohol consumed by Hindus, and briskly sold by Hindus. My memories of alcohol and Phagwah are not good - various incidents including one where a relative was threatening others. There is something sad, and I feel scared abou...

And among the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh is the equality of women and men. The world of humanity has two wings -- one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be. Baha'i writings Money The woman took the money - and asked me if I was sure that I had enough for myself. New Year's Day was the first day she had come to the gate.. saying nothing but I went downstairs to give her a big raise because I felt that was a nice New Year's Day thing to do. I tried to ask where she coming from.. because part of me still thinks that people who beg are tricksters while another part says that God visits me in the form of beggars. The woman came back a few times after - one time she just stood on the bridge and stared a...

We were talking about gender based violence in Port Mourant- the group of women and men all between 18 and 40 years of age. In a side conversation, two of the guys, one married, one unmarried, talk about sexing women, trusting women and being a responsible man - fatherhood, fidelity, and trying hard to show that you could still get as much woman as possible. The group talked about Female Gender Mutilation, and in response to some puzzled eyebrows.. I talked about how the clitoris is mutilated in some cultures. I saw some more puzzled faces (men and women), and then I asked if people knew what the Clitoris was. Some of the guys shook their heads - No; two women laughed, three others looked puzzled.. a few other men and women had blank faces. So I explained.. about location and function.. and thinking in a wild moment..in these unexpected moments when I do not have pictures, if I had a clitoris, it would have been easier to just show them.. The sex thing continued this week...